Sounder (film)


Sounder is a 1972 American DeLuxe Color drama film in Panavision directed by Martin Ritt, and starring Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, and Kevin Hooks. The film was adapted by Lonne Elder III from the 1970 Newbery Medal-winning novel Sounder by William H. Armstrong.

Plot

In 1933 Louisiana, the Morgans, a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers raising sugar cane, face a serious family crisis in the midst of the Great Depression. Nathan Morgan tries to teach his son David to be a man and survive in difficult times with their dog, Sounder. But Nathan is imprisoned for a year after stealing a ham to feed his starving family. While Nathan is in the local jail awaiting shipment to a work camp, the sheriff will barely allow the family to visit. A sympathetic local woman with access to the sheriff's filing cabinet tells the family the location of Nathan's camp, and plots the route on a road map. Sounder, who had been injured and lost, returns home in time to accompany David on a long but unsuccessful walk to visit his father. On the way home, David discovers a school. A kindly but firm teacher named Camille takes him in and starts to teach him about important African-American figures in history. David becomes desperate to go to school, but when his father is released a maimed man, David must choose between leaving home for an education that can give him a better life and staying home to support his father.

Cast

While the book centers on the family’s concern for the dog, screenwriter Lonne Elder III stated that he preferred to focus on the family’s daily survival. He noted that he at first refused the assignment, but producer Robert B. Radnitz and director Martin Ritt convinced him to work with them, as "I wanted to keep Sounder accurate in its historical context, and not go off on any present-day fantasies."
A notable aspect of casting in the film is that the minister is played by an actual minister and the judge is played by an actual judge.

Soundtrack

Taj Mahal recorded a soundtrack to the film, released in 1972 by Columbia Records. According to music journalist Robert Christgau, it was "the first soundtrack ever patterned after a field recording", featuring a "suite/montage/succession of hums, moans, claps, and plucked fragments", all performed in the key of the gospel blues song "Needed Time" by Lightnin' Hopkins. Fellow critic Greil Marcus regarded it as Mahal's "most eloquent music", although Christgau said "even Greil doesn't know anybody who agrees. I've always regarded field recordings as study aids myself." He gave the soundtrack album a C-plus in .

Critical reception

Sounder received warm reviews, and was praised as a welcome antidote to the contemporaneous wave of black films, most of which were considered of low quality and budget and exploitative. The film’s depiction of a loving family was hailed as a banner accomplishment for black filmmakers and audiences. Variety wrote that the picture had been "for good or ill, singled out to test whether the black audience will respond to serious films about the black experience rather than the 'super black' exploitation features."
Some of Sounder's success was due to its innovative marketing strategy. Fox focused on group sales in major cities and targeted religious organizations and schools. Radnitz personally visited 35 cities and held over 500 screenings, with 60 simultaneous sneak previews held in New York City. The religious establishment came out in favor of the film, with an endorsement by the Catholic Film Office and a study guide for religious educators created by the National Council of Churches. The Variety article noted that Fox wrote a study guide, prepared by Dr. Roscoe Brown, Jr., director of Afro-American Affairs at New York University. 20th Century Fox spent over $1 million promoting the film, according to Variety.
John Simon wrote "Sounder is a rare honest movie about people who work the soil under conditions of extreme rigor. Sounder is also a rare honest Hollywood movie about blacks, making it virtually unique'.
Based on 16 reviews, Sounder holds an 88% "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes. In his Family Guide to Movies on Video, Henry Herx wrote: "Sounder captures the humanity of characters and a fine, distanced sense of its sleepy Southern locale. The movie earns a deep emotional response from its audience because its story and characters are believable. Not only a valid examination of the black experience in America, it is also a fine family experience." He added that the boy's search for his father "provides additional drama". Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, stating that "This is a film for the family to see." Both Gene Siskel and Ebert placed the film on their 10-best lists of 1972.

Box office

Despite popular skepticism that the film would not be a financial success, and the belief that "the black film market is exclusively an action and exploitation market", the picture was a major box-office hit. Made for less than $1 million, Sounder grossed just under $17 million, earning $9 million in US theatrical rentals in 1973. It was the 10th highest-grossing film of 1972.

Sequel

A sequel, Part 2, Sounder, was released in 1976.

Academy Awards

;Nominations
In 2003, ABC's Wonderful World of Disney aired a new film adaptation, reuniting two actors from the original: Kevin Hooks directed, and Paul Winfield played the role of the teacher.

Distribution

When Sounder was released in theaters, the film was produced and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox. Years later, when the film was released on VHS, Paramount Home Video assumed distribution rights. Sterling Entertainment currently has DVD distribution rights. Walt Disney Home Video has released the 2003 made-for-television film on DVD.